Ghost of Midnight
… about neighbors, community and Front Porch Forum
A Big Shout Out to Local Business
A recent posting to the Williston Forum by FPF member Jeff:
I would like to take a minute to say thank you to Corey and Jake at JC Property Management.
On a recent early Sunday morning, on our way to go to a ski race at Sugarbush, we stopped at a parking lot in Hinesburg to grab something out of the back of our Suburban. Unknown to me, one of our bags fell out of the back. When we got to Sugarbush, we discovered the bag was missing.
After getting home and not finding the bag, we realized what had happened. After driving back to check the parking lot, we called the Police hoping someone turned it in. We also posted on Front Porch Forum. That was the best thing we did.
About a week later I received a call from Kory. He and his partner had found the bag while plowing that snowy morning. He had been searching for the owner. But, there was no identification tags on the bag. He was told by a friend to look on FPF.
Thankfully, he did. We were reunited with the bag. We had offered a reward for the safe return of the bag. Kory would not take the reward. He was just doing a good deed.
I want to thank Kory and the guys at JC Property Management. They are really good, honest guys. If you need work done at your property, I highly recommend giving them a call.
FPF’s 2021 Public Benefit Report
Front Porch Forum is a Vermont public benefit corporation. To that end, our social mission (aka public benefit) is front and center in all our work.
Each year, per state law, we publish a report about our progress in helping neighbors connect and build community in our territory.
Take a look on our About Us page or find the report right here. Feedback is always welcome.
Consider This Around Vermont Elections…
More neighbors are talking about voting, ballot issues, and local concerns in the weeks leading up to Town Meeting Day. New candidates and incumbents are sharing their platforms too. While some members say it can feel like a lot of content (often heated!), consider what this member in Springfield, VT, shared recently on her Front Porch Forum…
“While I’ve posted numerous times over the last couple of years looking for referrals for home improvement projects—and gotten great tips—how cool is it that FPF has become a place to learn about community issues and the people putting themselves out there to make a difference!“
“I don’t have time to call five different candidates to ask how they feel about one issue or another in Springfield schools. In a town without a newspaper, I appreciate the back and forth on FPF and opportunity to learn from the candidates themselves and from community members who support one person or another.” • Kelly in Springfield
See more examples of Vermonters appreciating FPF during election season.
Learn more about FPF Paid Campaign Postings here.
A Kinder, Gentler Social Network
Big Tech and social media giants are under the microscope more than ever. Front Porch Forum continues to draw attention from news outlets as the more friendly alternative among sites that are meant to connect us.
Julia Angwin, Editor-in-Chief of The Markup, a popular publication investigating Big Tech, recently spoke with FPF’s co-founder Michael Wood-Lewis to learn more about how FPF keeps conversations neighborly and kind, while other social media sites seem to be losing civility.
Read the full interview here.
Healthy Digital Discourse
The Aspen Institute just issued its Commission for Information Disorder final report. We’re humbled to see Front Porch Forum recognized among a short list of approaches that are making real progress instead of feeding the spread of disinformation. The commission includes celebrities like Craig Newmark, Katie Couric and Prince Harry, along with an array of national experts.
FPF was held as an example of how to
“Develop and scale communication tools, networks, and platforms that are designed to bridge divides, build empathy, and strengthen trust among communities.“
An Evening of Courageous Conversations
On November 18, FPF participated in a virtual event celebrating Vermonters taking One Small Step. VPR and StoryCorps have spent the last several months connecting residents with different views who might never talk otherwise for a simple, personal conversation. Hear voices from the project followed by an interactive conversation with participants and experts, including Front Porch Forum’s co-founder Michael Wood-Lewis. Learn about the project’s intentions and how to incorporate “courageous conversations” into our daily lives. Listen to the show here.
Front Porch Forum and Braver Angels joined the panel to share how we help facilitate these conversations, build community and provide the tools to do have these conversations.
Healthy Social Media? Experts Weigh In
Vermont’s own example of “Small Tech,” Front Porch Forum, drew several mentions this past week as the antithesis of Facebook and other destructive Big Tech.
Michelle Goldberg stated in the New York Times:
“Deb Roy, director of the M.I.T. Center for Constructive Communication and former chief media scientist at Twitter,… believes that the potential for a healthy social media exists — he points to Front Porch Forum, the heavily moderated, highly localized platform for people who live in Vermont. But it’s notable that his best example is something so small, quirky and relatively low-tech. Sure, there are ways of communicating over the internet that don’t promote animosity, but probably not with the platforms that are now dominant.“
While Jason Kelley and Danny O’Brien at the Electronic Frontier Foundation shared…
“[FPF] users say that while most of the internet ‘is like a fire hose of information and communication, Front Porch Forum is like slow drip irrigation.’ While many of the most popular social networks need to scale to perform for investors, which relies on moving fast and breaking things, Front Porch Forum could be described as a site for moving slowly and fixing things.”
And civic tech expert Micah Sifry said in his SubStack newsletter The Connector…
“Ian Bogost makes a good argument in The Atlantic for legislators or regulators setting speed and volume limits on sites like Facebook. Getting the tuning right won’t be simple, but in the same way that we’ve come up with safety rules for all kinds of products, we need them for social media. I’d start by looking at what has worked for a platform like Front Porch Forum, and try limiting the size of people’s ‘friend’ lists and the speed of comments.”
Thanks for Filling Our Leaf Bag!
Thanks to thousands of Front Porch Forum members… we made it! So many folks generously chipped in to reach FPF’s fall Supporting Member Campaign goal. These dollars will fund FPF operations in the months ahead.
If you meant to donate to FPF and haven’t yet had a chance, there’s still time. Please give today!
FPF is a Vermont Public Benefit Corporation and not a charity. Contributions are not tax deductible.
Help FPF Raise $200,000 by Oct 28, 2021
Have you found Front Porch Forum useful during the pandemic? More and more Vermonters have as they continue to sign up, read and post every day. If you’re among them, please help us continue to work on our community-building mission and provide our essential civic service to every town in the state.
We need to raise $200,000 statewide from our members by this Thursday, October 28, to meet our fall budget goal. Please donate today.
If you are in the position to donate to FPF now, please do. We’re eager to keep FPF going strong. We need your help to get there.
Please give today and help us fill the leaf bag: https://frontporchforum.com/supporting-members
Thank you,
Front Porch Forum’s 24 employees
FPF is a Vermont Public Benefit Corporation and not a charity. Contributions are not tax deductible. Ad sales to local businesses cover most of our expenses, and your Supporting Member contribution helps close the gap.
While we prefer online donations by credit card or PayPal, we also accept payment by check, with gratitude, at:
Front Porch Forum
PO Box 73
Westford, VT 05494-0073
Do You Value FPF? Please Donate Today
Today we are launching Front Porch Forum’s annual fall Supporting Member Campaign. If you are able, please support FPF by donating now by credit card, PayPal or check: https://frontporchforum.com/supporting-members
With the pandemic and other challenges, more people are using FPF than ever before to stay informed and to reach out to neighbors. Our workload continues to increase, and our costs and staff have grown accordingly.
We know that many of our members are not in a position financially to make a contribution this year. Regardless, please DO keep using your local FPF. Your engagement makes a big difference — it’s more important than ever to build community among neighbors.
If you value FPF, please support our work by participating and by donating today.
Thank you.
FPF is a Vermont Public Benefit Corporation and not a charity. Contributions are not tax deductible. Ad sales to local businesses cover most of our expenses, and your Supporting Member contribution helps close the gap.
About Blog
Ghost of Midnight is an online journal about fostering community within neighborhoods, with a special focus on Front Porch Forum (FPF). My wife, Valerie, and I founded FPF in 2006... read more
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